Paua poacher sentenced to 18 months jail

A jail sentence for a Porirua pāua poacher will send a strong message that stealing from our fisheries will not be tolerated, says Ministry for Primary Industries.

Fifty-six-year-old Ruteru Sufia was sentenced in the Porirua District Court yesterday after previously pleading guilty to illegally taking 366 pāua from Makara beach, 70 of which were undersized.

The daily limit in the area is ten per person and the minimum legal size is 125mm. He received 18 months imprisonment, had his vehicle and gear forfeited,and was banned from fishing for three years.

MPI Fishery Officers caught Mr Sufia when he was walking back to his car with 145 shucked pāua in his backpack. He was caught in the same place the next day after returning to pick up the remaining 221.

MPI team manager (fisheries) for the eastern and lower North Island, Mike Green says it’s extremely disappointing to see this level of offending.

“Mr Sufia, who has been convicted on previous occasions for fisheries related offences, showed a blatant disregard for the rules.

“The sentencing reflects the seriousness of the offending by Mr Sufia, and shows there is no tolerance for people that continue to break the law.

The haul on day 2.

“The rules are there for a reason – we need to protect the future sustainability of our fisheries by limiting how much can be caught. When people just take what they want, it threatens the health and future of our fish stocks.

“With recreational fishing starting up again as the weather gets warmer, we're reminding people that we're out and about, patrolling the coastlines and beaches to ensure people are respecting the rules.

“We'll be reminding them of the daily catch and size limits and why it's so vital that stocks are maintained for the preservation of precious ecosystems as well as for future generations of recreational fishers."

Always check the rules before heading out to fish. The easiest way to do this is to download the free NZ Fishing rules app.